What is "ryfast"

Ryfast is a sub-sea tunnel system under construction in Norway. The tunnel system will be part of the Norwegian National Road 13 and it will run between the city of Stavanger, under a large fjord, and to the municipality of Strand in Rogaland county.

The project was approved by the Norwegian Parliament on 12 June 2012 and construction began in the spring of 2013. The cost of Ryfast is estimated to (Norwegian krone). The tunnel system will replace today's ferry route between Stavanger and Tau as well as the ferry from Oanes to Lauvik across the Høgsfjorden. The tunnel system is scheduled to open in 2019.

The tunnel system will consist of two subsea tunnels:

• Hundvåg Tunnel, , running from the city of Stavanger to the island of Hundvåg (with a connection to the smaller island of Buøy also. This will also help relieve congestion on the Stavanger City Bridge.
• Ryfylke Tunnel, , running from the island of Hundvåg to just south of the village of Tau in Strand municipality on the other side of the fjord. This will reduce travel time between the Northern Jæren and Ryfylke districts in Rogaland county.

The Ryfast tunnel system joins another tunnel project under construction at the same time. The Eiganes Tunnel will run under the western part of the city of Stavanger.